Congratulations to Rex Ryan, who was at Sun Life Stadium in Miami on Friday night for the second time in a week, looking like an overripe Florida citrus while rooting his son’s Clemson team to a victory over Ohio State in the Orange Bowl.

Ryan deserves a collective pat on the back, even on days when he’s dressed in bright Clemson orange.

Surviving is no easy matter, after all.

Not in the real world, or in the NFL.

The Jets’ head coach has managed to do just that — whether or not the decision to save his job came down to the final hour. Woody Johnson made it official in that emotional Sun Life locker room last Sunday in the moments following the win over the Dolphins.

Ryan earned another shot with this team.

Probably more so than any coach in the league who is not still playing games, and that includes Tom Coughlin, the guy Ryan shares a home field with.

That’s so with all the faults and missteps and boring bluster of his early New York moments.

What Ryan does not deserve is a contract extension.

That’s not a personal take on the Ryan Era in New York. It’s a philosophical one, and extends to coaches everywhere in pro sports.

What’s with giving a guy two or three extra years on a contract just because you haven’t decided to fire him quite yet?

The deal Ryan has with the Jets now says he’s to get paid until the end of the 2014 season.

It’s for pretty good money, too.

I say, let the contract play out. See how it all works in the end. Maybe he’ll be in for a big extension. Perhaps he’ll be moving on.

But the idea that an NFL head coach needs the security blanket of few extra years in order to do his job seems to go against the grain of a business where virtually no one else gets a guaranteed anything. 

NOT OLD SCHOOL 

Ryan is a big guy with an even bigger personality. He sees himself as a living-on-the-crest-of-the-wave warrior, and revels in being viewed that way by others.

The thoughtful, disciplined, old-school approach to the craft of coaching that is so embedded in the foundation of the NFL?

It’s simply not for him.

He is flamboyant, emotional and, often, overbearing.

It shows every Sunday.

His defenses play with zip, grit and a physical toughness that is the key ingredient to winning in the NFL.

So let him live his contractual life in the same way.

After all, it’s not like Ryan will have to take a job on the loading dock if this doesn’t all work out.

Consider this: The Jets finished 8-8 this year while spending the season trying to protect an unprepared rookie quarterback. The offense played it so close to the vest, the players had lint all over their uniforms.

When the season began, the wise guys said they Jets would win four games. When the Jets were 5-7, the only bet you could still get down in regard to Ryan’s future was on what exact date he would be terminated.

But folks with a little longer view than the fan in the cheap seats at MetLife Stadium remembered the past.

They recalled that when Ryan showed up in New York the Jets were no good.

And that he immediately found a way by building ironclad defenses. With an untried kid named Mark Sanchez at the helm, he employed grind-it-out offenses that played like yardage was being served up from a very small spoon. 

CHANGING TEAM 

His back-to-back AFC title-game appearances in the first two years was a huge overachievement; just like one losing season in his five seasons with the Jets is beyond commendable.

In fact, under Ryan, the Jets have usually performed above their talent level.

Often well above it.

Is this a man with warts?

Why even bother to ask?

We’ve all heard the bluster, and seen the embarrassing YouTube stuff.

But Ryan also has a passion for what he does, and a knack for getting players to perform.

By March, the Jets will be a different team.

That’s the month when you’ll see management exercise its right to pass on bonus payments to Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie.

Those moves will give the organization the ability to fill some holes through free agency. The draft will make them deeper.

The franchise will head into the 2014 season with more hope than it has had in years.

There’s also some real joy in Ryan’s approach. That’s no small thing in what’s supposed to be the entertainment business.

So, I’m glad the Jets decided to retain their head coach.

I just don’t think it’s necessary to pay him anything extra for surviving. 